Machine for operating upon pieces of stock



F. RICKS Mar h 19, 1929.

MACHINE-FOR OPERATING UPON PIECES or: swoqx Filed NOV. 13, 1924 V the wheel as the Vwork'emerges from the oprnnn nrcrrs, or LEICESTER, n

POR-ATION, or rnrnnson, new J mesa;

nenann, Assmnon TO nnrrnn snon cnonmnar connnsny, A CORPORATION, on NEW JERSEY.

' MACHINE non ornnn'rrne neon :erncns or swoon.

Application filed November 13, 1924, SeriaiNo. 749,733, and in Great Britain December 21, 1923.

c In the embodiment. ofv the invention here-- in shown, a channeling machine is provided with'co-operating feed wheels, one of which comprises a plurality of parallel work-indenting surfaces or toothed feedingsections,

This invention relates to improvements in machines for operating upon pieces of stock and is herein illustrated vas embodied in a machine for operating upon boot or shoe soles before the soles are attached to boots or shoes.

Inthe practice of the usual methods of shoe'manufacture various operations are per formed in which the margin of the sole of a shoe is engaged by a wheel which is usually serrated so as positively to feed the work while the work is manually guided past an operating tool or tools located approximately at the point of bite ofthe wheel on the work. One of the most'used operations oi the above nature is that of channeling a sole for the reception of a'line of stitching which is subsequently made in the sole and an example of a sole channeling machine is that shown in United States Letters Patent No. 1,004,614, granted October 3,1911, upon ap-' plication of H. V. Winter. Machines ofthis nature are generally provided with a serrated feed wheel of considerable width and, as shown and 'described'in the, patent re-' ferredt-o, the serrated wheel is sometimes composed of a plurality of toothed disks between which relative movement may take place as the work passes along in order to preventundue tearing of the work surface when the sole is swung for the purpose of progressively presenting the curved portions of its margin to the operating tool. It'has been found, however, that even though the disk composing the toothed feed wheel are permitted to move relatively to each other as above described more or less undesirable tearing ordefacing of the work surface results from theinevitable movement of the. zone of the work engaged by the serrated wheel in a direction across the surface of to encircle said work-indenting surfaces, is I formed with projections arranged to enter etwcens l1 surfaces to hold'the sole'out of Contact therewith immediately thesole has passed beyond the common axial plane of the feed wheels i in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the main guard member is rigidly secured at its lowerend to the frame of the channeling machine while the upper extremity of the guard member; which is eflective LlC wheel, is unsecured to the frame. 'ln order to prevent the stock from pressing the upper entremity of the main guard member downwardly against the teeth of the feediwheel so as to interfere with tne rotation .of the .wheel,- the illustrated machine is provided with a support for the free'eXtremity of the guard arranged to partake of the rotary movement of the feed wheel. shown this. "support'for the, guard is'in the form of a disk adjacent to and coaxial withthe toothed adapted to'engage and support the guard.

g-l'n order-to insure against possibility of the work being unduly 'marked or defaced by the teeth'of the lower feed wheel before 7 the work reaches the b ite'of thefeed wheel, the illustrated machine is provided with a work-indenting feed wheel, and a guard membc adapted to limit engagement ofthe 'the' operating point. This"last-mentioned guard member is herein illustrated as partially encircling the outer feeding section of the lower feed wheel and having a free extremity overlying and capable of being' supported by the guard which parts the work from the feed wheel. he above and other objects and features of the invention "will'becoine apparent upon consideration of the following des riptiou of the illustrativedevice shown in the accompanying drawings; in which Fig. 1 is a front: elevat onalview s the work feeding and pressingwheels of a machine of the general type disclosed. in the patent above referred to, together with guard crating point whenever a curved portion of the sole margin is being operated upon.

In view of the foregoing,'one object of this invention is to avoid undesirable tearing or defacing of the York such as that above adverted to.

To thisend, one feature of the present invention consists in the prcaiision v in a ma chine for operating upon pieces of stock, of

a toothed work indenting feed wheel and unyielding means constructed and arranged to engage the portion of the work in which the teeth of the feed wheel are indented positively to strip the stock from the feed Wheel.

and a'main guard member, arranged partially I feed. wheel and having a smooth periphery to part thework fro rn'the teeth; of thefeed work with the wheel before the workreaches bowing I patent. As "shown, the lower feed wheel 4' members constructed in accordance with the present invention; and c V r Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts below i the line 2-2 of F 1.

Referring to the drawings, allv parts of the machine, with the exception of those hereinafter specificallydescribed may be of the general typedisposedin the patent here-.

' inbefore nientioiiedyand the lower feed wheel 4-, which, is aserlated feeding membenniajy also be of the general nature indicated in said consists of a plurality of disks 6, 8 and 10 severally comprising annular feeding sections having-teeth on their outer peripheries of less width than the thicknessof the disks.

Co-o ieratino' with the lowervfeel wheel 4 is i O an upperfeed wheel 12.. Acliannel knife is 7 indicated at 14 and a rotatable edge at 15, the channel knife being arranged to out the work at a point in the common ax a1 plane of the feed wheels and the edgeg lunctioning inithe usualnianner to locate the work relat vely to the feed'wheelsand thechannel knife, All of the annular feeding sections comprising the lower feed wheel are provided with ball clutches (not shown) which may be of the typedisclose'd in said patent and by-ine'ans of which the feeding sections are connected with a driving. shaft 16 so that they are positively driven by. the'sha-ft but are free to be turned forwardlythereon by the Work. The disk 10, which is located nearest to tlie margin of the work, is thicker thanthe other'disks and has one portion; 18 of its periphery smooth while the other portion thereof'is serrated. Adjacent to the disk '10 are the two relatively thin serrated disks 8 and 6, the annular feeding sections of which are rotatable independently of each other and of the disk 10 by reason of the'ball clutch mountings above referred to. A fourth disk 20 is arranged adjacentlto the'disk'fi, andis p on the otherdisks.

positively connected to the driving shaft 16.

Tlie disk, 20 has no teetl upon its: periphery lower feed wheel at that side on which the ,worlc emergesfrom the bite of t'he'wheels.

The guard 22 may conveniently be made in two parts 23 and 24 secured together by screws 25 and the, part 24 may berigidly secured by means of screws 26 to a fixed portion. of the frame of the'machine. The portion 23'of the feed wheel guard is provided.

with an. {approximately horizontal and sinootl'i upper surface the leading edge of whichis located; approximately at the comn onaxial planeofthe upper and lower feed wheels. I p further provided with small pro ections 30 The portion 23 of the guard 22 is which enter and fit closely withinthe spaces between the rows ofteeth upon feeding sections of the lower feed wheel. Viewed axially of thefeed wheel shaft ,16 the teeth 30' taoer to oints at their leadin ed es these i P a 23 a points being located in the circle of the botioms of the teeth on the disks.

A second stationary work guard or guide 82 is located over the disk 20 and 18 arranged closely to surround the upper quarter or" said disk on the side at which the work enters the grip of the feed wheels. As shown, the guard of t-ne guard 82' is substantially and provides a smooth work-engaging and supporting surface of the saniecurvature 'as the circle of the outer' extreniitie's of the teeth. This guard 32 also tapers at its free extremity, indicatedat 36, the tapered portion being located substantiallyv at the ity of the guard 34 overlies and is supported by themost'advanced portion of the firstmentioned guard drawings.

asthe work passes the operating point, i. 0.,

the pointin the common axial plane of the when a c oni exly' curved portionof the sole inargii'i is being operated upon and thesole is manually swung, as'may be necessary -pro-' 'gressively to maintain its curved margin in position to bejoperated upon the inner porne function oft-lie guard 22 is to lit the work from the teeth of the-lower feedwheel is secured by sci ews dto a fixed" portion of the frame of the machine. The thickness v equaljto the i height of theteeth on the disks 6 8 and 10 bite of the feed wheels. The tapered extrein- 22, as clearly shown in the feed wheels at which the work receives max? mum pressure from the feed wheels. Thus,

tion of the Zone of the work engaged by'the teeth. of the lowerjfe'ed wheel will be parted or stri iped from the teethimmediately the sole'leaves the point wiere it receives its greatestpressure from the feed the teeth of the lower feedwheel siiicre the work isno t permitted to be moved in a direction aoi'ossthe surface of the wheel after leaving the point of greatest feeding pres sureat the bite of the feed wheels. Under working condit ons the free extreme ity ofthc main guard 22 is adapted to be sup-V portedby engagement with the the ball-clutch driven disks. with the conse I I wheels; The work therefore cannot be damaged by c peripheryof W i the disk 20. In the absence-of such'a sup port, pressureupon-the guard'22 by for example, the thicker grades of work, might r s sult in-actual contact of theguard 22 with qiient prevention ofthe desired action of the clutches at'ti'mes when curved portions of the sole would normally cause said disks toinove in advance of the other-operating parts. Inasmuch a-sfthe second guard or gu de" rests upon the main guard 22, which is unyieldingly supported under working conditioiis, the guard '32 is likewise uny eldingly i zupported and it serves to support the worl:

in such amanner that the Work cannot be pressed downwardly into too deep engagem nt with the teeth of the toothed disk 6 before the work reaches the operating point.

Consequently, the guard 32 functions to prevent the work from being unnecessarily injured by the teeth of the feed wheel as the Work is turned. a

As is usual in this class of machines, a plurality of strippers 38 has been provided, these strippers acting in the grooves between adjacent disks of the lower feed wheel to remove from the Wheel any particles of leather or dirt which 'may adhere to it.

jhe invention having been described, what i I claim as new and desire to secure by Letter, Patent of the United States is V 1. In a machine for operating upon pieces in stock, in combination, a toothed work indenting feed wheel, and unyielding means constructed and arranged to engage the portion of the work in which the teeth of the feed wheelers embedded positively to strip the stock from the feed Wheel.

2. In a machine for operating upon pieces of stock, in combination, a feed Wheel artook, and an unyielding teed W heel guard pa tially encircling the feed wheel ror part- .1 ing the stock from the feed wheel, said guard being constructed and arran ed to begin its parting action at the point at which the feed wheel exerts its maximum pressure upon the stock.

3. In a machine for operating upon pieces of stock, in combination, a feed wheel arranged to exert feeding pressure upon the stock, a feed Wheel guard partially encircling the "Feed wheel for parting the stock from the feed wheel immediately after it has passed the point at which the feed wheeler;- erts its maximum pressire upon the stock, 'igid means ror supporting the guard at a mint removed from its operative extremity,

and means upon the feed. Wheeltor sup'portiug the operative extremity or the guard.

4c. Ina machine for operating upon pieces of stock. in combination, a feed wheel arranged to exert feeding pressure upon the stock, a feed wheel guard partially encircling the feed wheel for parting the stock from the feed wheel immediately after it has passed the point at which'the feed wheel exerts its maximum pressure upon the stock, r gid means for supporting the guard at a point re moved from its operative extremity, and an annular flange jormed upon theside of the feed wheel for supporting the operative eX- tremity ot the guard. t

5. In a machine for operating-upon pieces of stock, in combination, a feed'wheel for feeding the stock, feed Wheel guard partially encircling the feed Wheel for parting the stock from the feed Wheel immediately anged to exert feeding pressure upon the upper feed wheel.

after the stock leaves the point of bite of the wheel upon the stock, and a'second guard partially encircling the feed Wheel throughout a portion of the width of the latter for limiting the engagement of the stock with the feed wheel before reaching said point, the operative extremity or thefirst guard underlying adspted to sup nation with a feed Wheel having a plurality of parallel work-indenting surfaces, of a Work guard partially covering the work in- I dent ng surfaces of the feed wheel and pro v ded wlth projections enter ng between said surfaces and arranged to part the work from the feed Wheel immediately after the Work has aassed the o aeratin Joint.

8. In a machine for oper'atlng progres I sively along the margin of a sole, a work supporting lower feed wheel, an upper feed Wheel arranged to apply downward pressure to Work supported by the lower feed wheel, a i

guard arranged to protect the work engaging portion oi the lower feed Wheel, and means on the lower feed wheel for supporting the guard againstthe downwardpressure of the 9. In amachine for operating progressively along the edge or" a sole, a toothed teed wheel for engaging one face of the sole,

means coacting with the :feed Wheel to hold 7 the solo in engagement therewith, a member partiallyencircling the feed wheel and l aving a free extremityconstructed and arranged to strip the work from the feed Wheel immediately after the work passes the point at which the iced wheel is most effective to feed thework, and meanson the feed wheel for supporting the free extremity of said member.

10. In a machine for'operating progres sively along the margin'of a sole, co-operating feed Wheels arranged to engage opposite sides of a'sole and to feed thesole', one of said wheels comprising a plurality of parallel work-indenting surfaces, and a feed wheel guard arranged to cover a portion of said surfaces and provided with a plurality of projections arranged to enter between said worlr- V lndentmg surfaces 7 and to strip the work therefrom immediately after the Work has passed the point oi. maximum pressure at the bite of the feed rolls. I

V 11. In a machine "for operating progressively upon, the margin ot a sole, 1n combination, an operating instrumentality, Work indenting feed Wheel, a guard for parting the ork from the feedWheel after the Work has oassed the o eratin instrumentalit a disk ofsnialler diameter than the feed Wheel and arranged'beside the latter for supporting said guard underworking conditions, and a sec- 0nd guard partially encircling the periphery of said disk and constructed and arranged to limit engagement of the Work with the feed "Wheel before the Work reaches the operating instrumentality, said second guard being supported byengag'ement with sald first guard partially encirc.

12. In a channeling machine, the combine tion With a lower feed Wheel comprising a plurality of parallel toothed feeding sections,

of an upper-feed Wheel co-operating with the loWer feed Wheel to feed the work, a guard SitlCl feeding sections, and lingers at one extremity of the a plurality of guard extending between said feeding sec-' tions for parting the ork from the feed In testimony Whereoi' name to this specification.

v PFRED RioKs 

